Viking Claim (The MacLomain Series: Viking Ancestors Book 2)

by Sky Purington

  When she pried open her eyes, it was to realize that her head was resting on Megan’s shoulder and they’d just pulled into her driveway.

  “Wow, I slept the whole drive?”

  Amber grinned over her shoulder. “Yup, out like a light.”

  “Just a few more minutes of driving ahead,” Megan said. “We’ll hop in my truck to go to the doctors.”

  “Sure.” Veronica got out. “But I need to use the bathroom first.”

  Less than an hour later, Veronica’s blood had been drawn and she and her sisters were being ushered into an ultrasound room. That same chill that liked to haunt her lately raced down her spine.

  “We shouldn’t be in here,” she murmured when they were left alone.

  Megan pressed her lips together, clearly trying to mask how anxious she was.

  Amber, however, thought it was wonderful. “There’s only one reason we would’ve been brought here.” She patted Veronica’s stomach gently. “And I can’t wait to hear it confirmed.”

  “I still can’t believe our cousin, Dayna became an OB/GYN. When did she find time to do that? And your gynecologist at that,” Veronica said to Megan. “I thought you couldn’t stand her since Sean nearly drowned years ago.”

  “I’m still not a huge fan but Sean loves her so I guess being her blood relative I’ve got to love her too. Sort of.” She shrugged a shoulder. “And she’s not my gynecologist. But she is the best in the area. And the only one I could get on such short notice.”

  “Megan!” Veronica said.

  Megan was about to respond when a knock came at the door and Dayna entered. They had already said their ‘hello’s’ during her initial examination. Of medium height, her cousin had always possessed what Veronica thought was the opposite of a quiet beauty. Everything about her looks was strong and confrontational from the tilt of her chin to her sun-streaked red hair to her wide, bluish-violet eyes. She was if anything, uniquely beautiful. And now, so it seemed, more multi-talented and diverse than Veronica originally gave her credit for.

  Dayna urged Veronica to sit on the examination table then sat in a chair next to her. Clipboard in hand, her eyes were direct and voice soft when she said, “Congratulations, cousin. Your bloodwork has confirmed that you are definitely pregnant.”

  Veronica’s heart leaped. “But that’s impossible. I’ve had the birth control shot and I’m not sexually active.”

  “So you said.” But Dayna’s tone wasn’t disbelieving or condescending. She looked at the sonogram machine then met Veronica’s eyes. “Why don’t we take a look?”

  “At what?” Veronica said defensively mostly because she thought she was losing her mind.

  “It’s all right, Sis.” Megan took her hand. “Dayna just wants to confirm the bloodwork. If there’s nothing there, then we know the bloodwork’s wrong, okay?”

  Amber took her other hand. “What harm could it do?”

  Oh, so much harm. It might confirm that she was a lunatic.

  Regardless, she wasn’t by nature a coward but very much a realist. If she was by some unknown means pregnant, she needed to know so that she could take proper care of herself and the baby.

  So she nodded. “But shouldn’t an ultrasound technician be doing this?”

  “I’m qualified,” Dayna assured then urged her to lay back, voice gentle. “I know it’s been a long time since you’ve done this. Should I go over things again?”

  Veronica shook her head and tried to keep memories at bay as her sisters stood on one side and Dayna prepared her from the other. She had her unbutton her pants then helped her pull up her shirt so that her stomach was exposed.

  “We have the most recent 4D sonogram.” Dayna turned on the machine and a screen flickered to life. Then she applied a gel to Veronica’s abdomen and pelvic region, eyeing the area again. “Are you sure your last menstrual cycle was a month ago?”

  Honestly, she had no idea. “I think so.”

  “Okay. Birth control can affect things so we’ll figure it out,” she murmured as she gently pressed the head of a small wand, or transducer, onto Veronica’s stomach. Eyes on the screen, she slowly started moving it around.

  Amber and Megan clutched her hand as they all stared.

  Dayna’s brows arched slightly as something slowly took shape. A body, head, legs, feet…a heartbeat. Veronica squeezed her sisters’ hands and shook her head, tears coming to her eyes. “Oh my God.”

  “By the looks of it, you’re about to leave behind your first trimester.” Dayna’s warm eyes turned to her. “You’re just over twelve weeks pregnant.”

  “The heartbeat’s a little rapider than normal,” Dayna continued, shaking her head. “But your child is very strong and developing well.”

  “My child,” Veronica whispered, staring at the screen.

  “Do you want to know the sex?”

  “Yes,” she breathed, still completely stunned. “Please.”

  Dayna met her eyes and smiled. “You’re having a boy, Veronica.”

  Veronica bit her lower lip as her sisters squeezed her hand.

  “Congratulations,” they said at once.

  Veronica wanted to look at them but couldn’t tear her eyes from the screen. It almost seemed as though her son stared right back. A strange sensation rolled over her. The sense that she had forgotten something came screaming forward, ten times stronger than ever before.

  “Megan,” she whispered.

  “Dayna, mind if we have a few minutes alone?”

  “Sure, but I have to shut down the machine.” She looked at Veronica. “Do you want some pictures?”

  “Yes. Please. Thank you.”

  Dayna hit a button, shut down the machine then wiped the gel from her stomach. The minute the door closed behind her, Veronica shot up and started shaking. Megan didn’t seem much better as she sunk down beside her.

  Rapid images started to flicker in Veronica’s mind.

  Stones with Rune staves.

  Ravens.

  A tall man with blond hair.

  Vikings.

  Scandinavia.

  A ragged breath broke from her and she faintly heard Amber ask what was wrong before more images whipped through her mind.

  A boy name Heidrek.

  A village by the sea.

  Ships.

  Three men. A king and his brothers.

  Naðr.

  Kol.

  It felt like a punch to the gut when the name Raknar swamped her mind…and heart.

  Love.

  Veronica put a hand over her stomach and stood. Yanking down her shirt and redoing the buttons on her jeans, her eyes shot to Megan’s. Obviously, the same thing was happening to her sister.

  “Naðr Véurr, my husband.” Megan’s eyes filled with tears, voice desperate as she whispered, “How could I have forgotten him?”

  Megan touched her own shoulder at the same time as Veronica, both aware of the slight sting of their tattoo’s returning.

  Everything was flooding back so quickly. They weren’t where they were supposed to be. None of this was right. She pressed her palm to her forehead. “We don’t belong here, Megan.” She met her sister’s eyes. “You definitely don’t belong here.”

  “What do you guys mean?” Amber started then sort of drifted off as she stared at nothing in particular. Then as soon as she drifted her eyes snapped to them. “I need to get back to Megan’s, back to Sean. I don’t belong here.”

  It seemed Amber’s mind was redirecting her as well.

  Though she had no idea why, Veronica suddenly knew what they needed to do…at least her and Megan. Yet when she met her older sister’s eyes, it was to see nothing less than stark terror and confusion.

  Veronica placed her hand over her stomach and gathered her strength, his strength, before she pulled on her jacket. “C’mon ladies, we need to go.”

  Neither said a word as they followed her out. When she passed the front desk, she slapped down her insurance card. “Say thanks to Dr. Dayna De
Launde and bill me.”

  “Miss, you left your card!” the woman yelled after her but Veronica ignored her. She had no intention of ever needing twenty-first century health insurance again.

  Images no longer snapped in her mind. No, she remembered everything. The seers. Her and Megan’s promise to them. Then especially the pain in Raknar’s eyes in those last few moments. Did he and Naðr even remember them? She didn’t care.

  She would find a way back.

  And had a good idea how to do that.

  Completely unlike the usual supportive rock she typically was, Megan was barely holding herself together as Veronica took the keys and they crawled into the truck. Amber seemed to be under the influence of a sedative she was so complacent and out of it.

  That left Veronica in charge.

  Careful enough considering the slightly slick roads, she moved right along and got them back to Megan’s house in record time. Gear in park, she looked at Amber. “Listen, I’ve got to bring Megan somewhere, but I need you to stay here. Are you all right with that?”

  “Of course,” Amber replied, still out of it as Sean walked out.

  Veronica hugged her tightly and murmured in her ear. “We’ll see you soon. I promise.”

  “Of course,” Amber repeated as she crawled out of the truck.

  Before Sean could question them, Veronica backed out of the driveway and headed for Raven’s Nest.

  “I should have hugged Amber,” Megan muttered as her eyes went to Veronica. “Shouldn’t I have?”

  “I’d bet my life’s salary that you’ll get a chance to soon enough,” she assured, speeding toward what she hoped would be the distant past.

  “Please let it be there. Please,” she said over and over as they veered from the Park Loop toward the pull-off for Raven’s Nest.

  “Ah ha!” She slammed her palm on the bottom of the steering wheel as they parked next to the vehicle she’d been praying would be here. “Lawyer Grant Seavey’s car.”

  “Lawyer who?”

  Veronica shifted the truck into park, shut off the engine and grinned at her sister. “You remember everything now, right?”

  Megan breathed a worried sigh, eyes still glistening as she swallowed hard. “I do. All of it.”

  “Good.” Veronica pointed at the vehicle next to them. “Remember how I told you the lawyer who oversaw the sale of your house pulled off here? Remember, I followed him and he vanished?”

  “Yeah.” Megan’s brows pulled down. “But you never told me the lawyer’s name only that he was Scottish.” Then her brows shot up as the truth dawned. “And his name was Grant? Hell, Veronica, how did you not put the pieces together then?”

  “Because I didn’t believe in time-travel and I sure as hell didn’t believe that the manuscript about The MacLomains Next Generation was anything but pure fiction.”

  Megan shook her head, incredulous eyes swinging from her to the car next to them. “Are you saying that belongs to Grant MacLomain?”

  “No,” Veronica said, opening her door. “I don’t think he owns anything in this century.” She perked a brow at her sister as she stepped out. “I think he’s here to help out just like Adlin MacLomain was in ninth century Scandinavia.”

  They met in front of the truck. Veronica took her hand. “Follow me. I have a good idea where we need to go, but it’s slippery.”

  “So is this where you traveled back in time from?”

  “Sure is.” Veronica shook her head. “But I ended up in England so we’ll see.”

  Going slow, she eased down the path she’d slid on before and tried to get her bearings, tried to remember which way they’d gone when she followed Grant. All the while, she kept a protective hand over her stomach, over her son…their son. She still didn’t know how it was possible he was three months old when she’d been back a mere month, but there could be no doubt, this was Raknar’s child.

  Raknar.

  How could she have ever forgotten him?

  She knew very well how.

  Her promise to the seers.

  Tears blurred her vision, but she blinked them away and focused. Now wasn’t the time for weakness but strength. Now was the time to find her way back to him. As if her son agreed, Veronica swore she felt an impossible flutter in her belly when her eyes turned to the right.

  “That way.” Oddly enough, it almost felt like her unborn child led them.

  They walked around the next bend and as careful as she tried to be, Veronica suddenly slipped taking Megan with her. Though they fell on their backsides, neither slid far before they stopped short and snow billowed around them. All the while, she kept a protective hand over her stomach.

  It appeared Megan saw clear of the snow first because she exclaimed, “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  Veronica wiped the snow from her face, peered up and couldn’t help but grin.

  No longer in a business suit as he’d been when she first met him, Grant was kilted, with heavy boots, a tunic and fur wrapped around his broad shoulders as he held down his hand. “Verra good to see ye again, lass. Sorry it was under such different circumstances before.”

  Grant helped them stand.

  Veronica eyed him up and down, taking in the small braids interwoven into his hair. “Wow, you’re flexible with your appearance, aren’t you?”

  A smile came to his lips as he nodded and kissed the back of her hand. Then his eyes went to Megan and he lowered not only his knee but head and eyes as he brought the back of her hand to his lips as well. “I am Grant MacLomain, son of Coira and William MacLomain. ‘Tis my privilege and honor to make your acquaintance, Megan, Queen to Viking King Naðr Véurr.”

  Surprise brought Megan’s brows up. It seemed her sister truly remembered all she’d left behind because she became every inch a Viking queen when she lowered her head then raised it, eyes warm. “No need to bow. Please rise. Nice to meet you Grant. I’ve…read a lot about you.”

  “Aye.” Eyes equally warm, he stood. “McKayla is quite the storyteller, is she not?”

  McKayla, who had ended up married to the MacLomain chieftain, had written the manuscript that had played a huge part in leading Megan back in time to Naðr to begin with.

  “She is,” Veronica agreed but couldn’t help but stare in awe. “How did I not realize who you were when we first met? I mean sure, I didn’t believe in all this but…”

  When she seemed to be out of words, the corner of his lips inched up. “‘Tis always easy not to see what is in front of your eyes if ye dinnae believe to begin with, lass.”

  “Sort of what you said back at the car,” Megan reminded. Her impatience was obvious when her desperate eyes met his. “Tell me you can get me back to Naðr…that you can get Veronica back to Raknar.”

  Grant shook his head, grim. “I cannae.”

  Her heart sunk.

  Then Grant flicked out his hand. Something hung from the tip of his finger as his eyes shot to Veronica. “But mayhap ye can, lass.”

  Eyes wide, she cupped the small satchel hanging from the end of a leather string.

  Grant placed it in her palm. “This is yours. Ye will know what to do with it.”

  “Actually, I have no idea,” she argued as she poured out its contents. It felt like something deep within her heart breathed a sigh of relief as the two stones with rune staves and the small cylinder fell into her hand.

  A smile met Megan’s lips before her eyes found Veronica’s. “There’s our way home, sister.”

  Home.

  Not New York or even Winter Harbor…but ninth century Scandinavia.

  A place she missed so very much.

  And a man she missed even more.

  Veronica looked at Grant. “How does it work? What do I do?”

  He eyed her shoulder. “Your tattoo. The Hugin and Munin symbol. Odin’s birds. Of thought and memory…” Then his eyes fell to her stomach. “He is of such and will lead you back to your love.” Grant’s eyes met hers then fell to the cylinder. “If you choose t
o open that.”

  Confused but not enough to be swayed, she nodded. Still. “Adlin MacLomain was able to move us into the mountains of Scandinavia in a second. Can’t you do the same for us now? Move us back in time that is?”

  Grant shook his head and held out his palm. “Nay, lass. I can do but one thing now and that is to make sure what ye need Amber to have gets back to her.”

  Veronica’s eyes shot to her palm and the only stone left that didn’t match her or Megan’s tattoos. She bit her lower lip and shook her head. “God help them both. Kol and Amber really are meant for one another.”

  “Mayhap.” Grant’s lips curled up. “But I cannae take the stone. Ye must give it to me.”

  When Megan went to hand it over, Grant shook his head. “Nay, my Queen. It must be Veronica.”

  “Why?” Veronica whispered.

  His pale blue-gray eyes hinted at nothing, but his words did. “Because without your story, Amber's couldnae exist.”

  Though she stared into those otherworldly eyes of his for a long moment, Veronica realized she’d trusted him from the moment she met him so placed the stone in his hand. “Take good care of it.”

  “Aye, lass. Always,” he promised.

  “I’m still a little confused,” Megan said. “How do I travel back in time without my stone or the contents of my cylinder for that matter?”

  “You dinnae need those now,” Grant assured. “Where Amber’s story couldnae exist without Veronica’s, in turn Veronica’s couldnae exist without yours. If she takes the leap of faith to follow her heart, then all will be as it should.”

  “You’re sort of cryptic, eh?”

  Grant grinned. “On occasion.”

  Veronica eyed him, curious. “So I’m dying to know. How’d you manage to make contact with Sean to begin with and end up being his lawyer?”

  “Och, lass, have ye not heard of Google?”

  “We have,” Megan conceded. “But then we’re twenty-first century women and you’re a medieval Scottish Highlander.”

  “Aye.” He winked. “With time-travel at my disposal.”

  “Mm hmm.” Veronica narrowed her eyes. “Adlin sent you, didn’t he?”